Genesis 17:7-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁷ And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. ⁸ And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

⁹ And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

Considering what to tell our new disciples next has a wide range of issues to discuss. We have to choose something and this may not be what others choose yet at some point in should be discussed.

Covenants come in two forms and this is the first. It is a two part covenant. God declares “I will if you will.” It is dependent upon the second party to perform what is asked to receive the promise. “You shall keep my covenant..” God is not beholding beyond His end of the covenant. Now comes the tricky part.

Israel was bound to Pharaoh in slavery and were not allowed to keep that covenant. What did God do? He saved them from that bondage in order for them to establish the freedom to keep covenant. Did they? Let us see.

Joshua 5:2-3 English Standard Version (ESV)

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth.

 No, they followed God for forty years in their wilderness experience without keeping covenant. God said that if He was to keep covenant, they would have to keep covenant first.

2 Corinthians 1:15 English Standard Version (ESV) Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace.

The word recreation has a secondary meaning often overlooked. We have memories created for us by someone significant in our lives. We in turn re-create those memories for those we love, sharing in those things we have been taught to love.

My father would take me fishing just the two of us. I would paddle the canoe and he would fly fish. He would paddle the canoe and I would fly fish. He loved to fish and instilled a deep appreciation for fishing but even more precious was the one on one time together. I did not have to share him with others.

When we spend time with the Lord, do we do what we love or what He loves? He goes with us everywhere we go because He abides in us. Do we decide what we would like to do without any regard for His desires?

The simple answer is He loves the lost and dealing with the lost all the time is not a pleasant thing. They test us in ways that are less than pleasing. It is not easy to find pleasure in being tested by the lost. Can we feel our Lord’s joy in ministering to the lost or do we allow our emotions to dampen the experience?

Matthew 5:44 English Standard Version (ESV) But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Our humanity says “I cannot love them. I don’t have it in me.” But we do have it in us, the love of God abides in us and we do have “it” in us. So we must learn to paddle the canoe while the Lord fishes. We create motion, opportunity, variety, accessibility, and the Lord does the loving.

Just as with my father, experience teaches us how to do this by doing it together, re-creating the moment.